Luce nodded. “That was what Charon wanted.”
“Was I that miserable?” I ask.
“You were… heavy-hearted. Sometimes memories can bring us joy, sometimes they can bring us pain, and sometimes they can stretch out so long that they seem to bring nothing at all. You were weary of your memories. You wanted to be free of them.”
“I was lonely,” I admitted.
“Yes,” Luce agreed. “And now you will never be lonely again. You have a mate, and where you go, he goes.”
“I shouldn’t be able to bring people back,” I stated. I knew that was the case. “I can’t even remember how I did it, though.”
Luce looked at me. “Yes, old friend, you surprised even me with that trick. I thought that the mortal part of you was there solely to live on the mortal plane. I thought all your power would come from the reaper and the ferryman. I forgot the most important detail, though.”
“What?” I asked.
“Free will,” Luce replied. “Mortals have free will, and they can make decisions that afterlifers cannot.”
We just sat then, looking out across the river. Luce was on one side of me, and Hellhound Corbin and Crow were on the other, and I felt a sense of peace. Perhaps I had given up something when I had made that deal with Luce, but I had gained so much more from it. Still, I was sorry that Luce had lost his friend.
“I’m sorry my memories of you are gone,” I murmured.
Luce looked at me, putting his hand on my shoulder. “Don’t be, Sebbie. You brought joy and peace back to an old friend, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
“Thank you,” I stated.
“You’re welcome, old friend. You are always welcome.”
Epilogue
Sebbie was chattingwith Jude and Thea in the kitchen while I gathered up a few more of my belongings. Sebbie just happened to have another open drawer in his dresser, and there just happened to be an open shelf in his living room, as well.
I was also pretty sure he’d been sneaking trinkets from my room and putting them on his shelves. Although, I couldn’t discount the possibility that Crow was responsible for that. More than likely, the two of them were working together. My daimon and my mate had a strong bond with one another, and sometimes it felt like they took great joy in poking fun at me.
I never minded. Sebbie didn’t have a mean bone in his body, and I knew that all his joking came from a place of love and joy.
So, yeah, we still hadn’t had the whole moving in together conversation. Sebbie had started driving himself to work again, but he was always sure to tell me that he’d see me at home when he got off his shift. Even if I was hunting hellbound souls, I made sure I was always there to meet him. And although we hadn’t officially said we were moving in together, I told Sebbie every day that he would never be alone again.
So maybe we didn’t even need to have an official conversation. I was pretty sure most of the Smith family hadn’t, and who was I to break tradition?
I saw the pack of tarot cards, and I considered leaving it here. It really did have quite the attitude most of the time. I wouldn’t actually abandon it, though, and I picked it up and shuffled the deck. I stared out the window as I did, thinking that this view was no longer the view I’d see each morning. I wouldn’t be going out and communing with the land here anymore. This place would no longer be a part of my morning routine.
I had found a different morning routine. Sebbie and I woke and had tea on the deck, feeding the murder and talking to them. After he was at work, I walked his property, letting the land get to know me. We were already becoming fast friends, and soon I’d seal it to Sebbie and I with a blood offering. I did know better than to do it when my mate wasn’t around, however. He didn’t like to see me hurt, even though I was immortal.
Plus, he could always bring me back from the dead.
We didn’t talk about it that much, and my memories of it all were very fuzzy. I knew the general idea of it—Sebbie had traded Sheriff Paul’s soul for the man that was trying to stab him. As for the specifics—I had no idea how he’d done it. Sometimes I seemed to recall being on a boat with the sheriff and Sebbie, but mostly that seemed more like a dream than anything that had actually happened.
Sebbie didn’t remember the details, either, and we both thought that was for the best. Perhaps it was his reaper side, but Sebbie had a firm idea that things happened the way they did for a reason. Or perhaps that was his ferryman side, since he knew that death was not an ending. It was only a new beginning.
Whatever the case, Sebbie didn’t like doing whatever he’d done. In general, he hated reaping bad souls. Sometimes it couldn’t be avoided, though. Mostly, he wasn’t really awarewhen he was reaping souls. We’d figured out that it probably happened so quickly that it was only a blink, and thus his human side barely registered it.
Still, on more than one occasion, I’d found myself suddenly transported to that empty, lifeless plane where reapers worked. Sometimes it took a little more than a blink, and whenever it did, I was there with Sebbie. As I had promised him, he never had to be alone again.
I turned away from the window when I heard laughter from the other room. It was time to go be with my mate. I cut the deck, drawing a card.
Cheeky deck.
I smiled, though, because she hadn’t been wrong yet.
